BOOKS by KATE BRIDGER
Nest Building: A Guide To Finding Your Inner Interior Designer
PUBLISHED BY REDFERN HOUSE PUBLISHING, NELSON BC, 2011
BOOK & COVER DESIGN by KATE BRIDGER
ILLUSTRATED BY CHRIS ROHRMOSER
ISBN: 978-0-9869228-0-0
$24.95 CAD
"Whether you are embarking on your first foray into decorating, or you long to escape from past follies and indecision, Nest Building will surely set you on your own road to success. This is a girl after my own heart."
Debbie Travis & Barbara Dingle, 'House to Home', Fall, 2011
Creating living spaces that work for you and your family, that reflect your communal identity as well as your individual personalities, is a delicate balancing act. There are no rights and wrongs … just what’s working and what clearly isn’t.
Every physical object you own—from shoes to living room couch—should enhance your life, not weigh it down. If you hold on to some things only because Aunt Blanche gave them to you, or they came with the house, or they’ll do for now, you may need to objectively re-evaluate the presence and purpose of these items and consider gently ushering them out of your life.
Every physical object emits energy and demands energy from you in return—maybe you have to dust it, feed it, look at it, listen to it, or fulfill any number of other caretaking responsibilities … so, you need to be discerning.
In recent years, design magazines and home makeover programs have attracted vast audiences. Viewers are all looking for someone to tell them how to organize their lives and living spaces. My goal is to remind you that the best interior designer you can call upon is the one living inside you.
You are the only person intimately familiar with your personal history and cultural background.
You are the only person who knows what you like and why you like it—even though, at times, it may be difficult to identify and express.
This book represents the start, or continuation, of a lifelong journey homeward. By exploring exercises, discussions and open-ended questions, I hope to engage you in a creative pilgrimage from start to finish.
Exercises are sprinkled throughout the book. You can complete them in any order you wish. They are designed to make you think, remember, question, plan and—most importantly—want to get on with the job. I also encourage you to set up and maintain a Nest Building Workbook and, throughout this book, I will suggest items and information you may wish to include in it.
If you glance at the Table of Contents, you will see there are no chapters on colour theory, window treatments, or how to choose a faucet. Instead, you will learn why the hideous vase you’ve had since before you were married is still in your living room, why the colour red makes your partner feel queasy, why talking to your furniture can be a good thing, and why these snippets of seemingly trivial information have any significance in your life and the lives of those you live with. I have used personal experience and anecdotes wherever possible to support the topics.
You will examine where you have come from and why your journey thus far is important.
You will learn how to distinguish between what you like and what you believe you should like. These are universal lessons that can be applied to many other aspects of personal development and decision-making.
The most important lesson of all: ‘home’ is a state of being, not a state of having. This puts everyone—young and old, rich and poor, male and female—on a level playing field. Being at home within ourselves is the first step towards being at home in our communities and our planet at large.